“We were literally baking cookies. For the fundraiser. With Olivia.”
Her face fell slightly, then brightened again like someone had flipped a switch. “But there was chemistry, right? Steam? Sparks? My sources say there was definite gazing.”
“Your sources?”
“I never reveal my sources.” She leaned in conspiratorially. “But it rhymes with Shmolivia.”
Of course. The seven-year-old informant strikes again.
“I really need to get—” I scrubbed a hand over my jaw, realizing I’d forgotten to shave this morning.
“Because Betty from the jewelry store says you were window shopping yesterday.”
My stomach dropped. “I was checking the time.”
“At the jewelry store?”
“They have a clock in the window.”
“Right next to the engagement rings.” Her eyes gleamed with the fervor of someone who’d just found the Holy Grail of gossip. “Very convenient clock placement.”
“June—”
“And Reverend Michael says you haven’t booked the church yet, but December is still available if you’re thinking winter wedding. Though personally, I think spring. Lily loves flowers, and imagine the arrangements she could do with?—”
“JUNE.” It came out louder than intended. Gary from plumbing stopped to stare. Mrs. Henderson from the post office peered around a display of rakes.
“There’s no wedding,” I said firmly. “No engagement. No ring shopping. I was literally checking the time.”
June studied me with the intensity of a detective who’d just found a crucial clue. “You’re panicking. This is panic. Oh my goodness, you’re going to propose, aren’t you? When? Where? Do you need help? I have a Pinterest board?—”
“June, please—”Madonna mia.
“Of course you want to keep it a surprise! Don’t worry, your secret’s safe with me.”
She bustled off, and I knew with absolute certainty that within ten minutes, the entire town would know I was allegedly planning a surprise proposal. Probably with specific details June would invent involving doves and flash mobs and whatever else she’d saved to her Pinterest board.
I grabbed the electrical tape without looking at the price and headed for the checkout, where Gary gave me a knowing wink.
“Nervous about the big question, eh?”
“There’s no big question.”
“Sure, sure.” He rang up the tape with theatrical slowness. “That’s what I said before I proposed to Martha. Denied it right up until I got down on one knee. Course, that was forty-three years ago, before the whole town had Facebook to document every breath you take.”
“Gary—”
“My advice? Don’t overthink it. When you know, you know.”
“I’m buying electrical tape.”
“And I’m selling it to a man who’s got that look.”
“What look?”
“The ‘I’m in way over my head but wouldn’t change it for the world’ look.” He handed me my change with a grin. “Saw the same look in the mirror once upon a time.”
I fled the store and drove straight to Sage & Bloom, needing to warn Lily about Hurricane June and her gossip trajectory. The bell above the door chimed as I entered, and I was immediately hit with the scent of roses and the sound of Lily muttering violent things at her computer.
